Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines.
Consequently, shrewd operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available because such machines attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability to the operator. In the competitive gaming machine industry, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by enhancing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is that of a “secondary” or “bonus” game which may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game, which is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event such as a start-bonus outcome of the basic game, may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game. Such a bonus game produces a significantly higher level of player excitement than the basic game because it provides a greater expectation of winning than the basic game.
A wager received from a player generally purchases a single game cycle of a game. The machine generates a random event for the purchased game cycle and provides an award to the player for a winning outcome of the random event. Each cycle of the game is generally independent of other game cycles such that a given game cycle is not correlated with prior or succeeding game cycles. Occasionally, the random event for a purchased game cycle may trigger a bonus game involving lively animations, display illuminations, special effects, and/or player interaction, but the hit frequency for such bonus games is generally so low (e.g., once every 100 game cycles) that a player's gaming experience is still essentially the same from one game cycle to the next. This low hit frequency is generally dictated by underlying math models used in the game to select game outcomes.
One problem associated with some current wagering games is that visual gaming indicia remains constant throughout each game cycle of a wagering game. Regardless of whether the visual gaming indicia includes selectable elements (i.e., elements that affect the play of the game or the amount of a payout) or background elements (i.e., elements that do not affect the play of the game or the amount of a payout), the position, the number, and the characterization of the elements does not change throughout the game cycles of the wagering game. For example, the layout of selectable elements of a bonus game of a game cycle remains identical for most, if not all, of the game cycles in which the bonus game is awarded to the player. Such static display of visual gaming indicia decreases the likelihood that the player will be excited or entertained by the wagering game.
Thus, there is a need to provide a wagering game that includes a dynamic randomization of visual gaming indicia to provide a fresh appearance for each game cycle of the wagering game. The present invention fulfills this and other needs.